International Journal of Business and

General Management (IJBGM)

ISSN(P): 2319-2267; ISSN(E): 2319-2275
Vol. 7, Issue 6, Oct - Nov 2018; 1-4
© IASET

RELIGION AND LIFE, SOME NEW TRENDS, A STUDY ON THE PILGRIM HEAD
QUARTERS OF KERALA

Deepa Roselin Joseph

Assistant Professor, Department of History, St. Thomas College,
Pazhavangady, Ranny, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India

ABSTRACT

Religion is an important characteristic of the people in any country. This paper studies the changes in
the religious trends of a hilly district of Kerala, Pathanamthitta, which is regarded as the pilgrim headquarters of Kerala.
As far as religion is concerned, Pathanamthitta district is special in many ways. Belief in God is like breathing air to this
pilgrim district of the State. Due to this reason, even the river sand bed of the district is rich with a religious color. Besides
the traditional religious groups, the district is witnessing the growth of new sects probably in need of upward mobility.
This is also because almost every other aspect of life here is deeply related to religion.

KEYWORDS: Religion, Pathanamthitta, Witnessing

Article History
Received: 21 Aug 2018 | Revised: 06 Sep2018 | Accepted: 15 Sep 2018

INTRODUCTION

Religion is an important characteristic of the people in any country. Pathanamthitta district of Kerala is well
known as the headquarters of pilgrim worship in Kerala. Historically, from the beginning of the Christian era, the district
has been able to house new religions and religious sects. When the Brahmins from the other parts of the country
established 32 settlements in Kerala, some of them like Aranmula Thiruvalla, Venmani were also in this district. Some
other settlements are close to the district on the banks of river Pamba. This had geographical factors behind. The rich and
fertile river valleys in the district made it best suitable for wetland agriculture and thus the Brahmins chose to settle down
there. One of the most popular pilgrim centers of India, Sabarimala is located in this district. Recently, a number of new
sects and new religious formations have either originated or come to prevalence in the district. The trend of emergence of
new sects is seen mainly in Christianity and Hinduism. The geography, history, and economy of the district along with
migration and such factors influence the religious profile of the district and the change in it over the course of years.

Population by Religion

The major religions groups in the district are Hindus, Christians, and Muslims. The other religious communities
like Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are insignificant as their percentage to total population is very negligible.

Demographically speaking Hindus constitute more than half of the population in the district in the three censuses
which is in accordance with the all Kerala pattern. Regarding the Muslim population, Pathanamthitta is the district with the

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2 Deepa Roselin Joseph

least Muslim population in all the censuses. The Christian population constitutes 40.36% of the total population whereas in
Kerala as a whole they constitute only 19.32%. But in the next censuses, the percentage decreased to 39% of the total
population even though it retained the third rank among the districts of Kerala. Christians were the only major religious
group in the district that showed a reduction in population proportion.

Profile of Religious Communities

The co-existence of different religions was the specific feature of pre-modern Travancore. Among the Hindus, the
Nairs and Ezhavas were numerically superior. These two were identified as two distinct communities within the Hindu fold
having their own distinct features and characteristics.

The Nairs occupied an important position in the social life of Travancore. Nairs are the Savarna Hindus who
constituted the warriors, landed gentry and yeoman of Kerala. The Nair Service Society (NSS) is an organization created
for the upliftment and welfare of the Nair community under the leadership of Mannath Padmanabhan.
Though initially started to reorganize, strengthen and empower the Nair community the N.S.S, has extended the benefits of
its service beyond communal and religious boundaries and has been playing significant roles in the social, economic,
educational and political transformations of the concerned areas. The NSS is a three-tier organization with Karayogams at
the base level, Taluk Unions at the intermediate and Headquarters at the apex level. Pathanamthitta district is covered by
six unions - Adoor, Ranni, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvalla, Mallappally and Pandalam with Head Quarters at Changanacherry.
The various departments functioning under the auspices of NSS brings in no small measure the social and economic
mobility of that community.

The Ezhavas occupied an important position in Travancore. They were subdued for centuries under the
dominating influences of Brahmins and Nairs and they constituted the upper layer among the lower castes.
The Head Office of Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana, an organization created for the upliftment and welfare of Ezhava
community is at Quilon. In the structure of Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, SNDP unions are the strongest
part. Under each SNDP union, SNDP branches or Sakhas are coming whose activities are controlled by unions.
Pathanamthitta had 5 Unions and 289 Branches.

The Christians were yet another important social group in Travancore even though numerically less than the
Hindus. The introduction of early Christianity in this part of the Indian subcontinent might have happened because of the
trade relations that this region had established with countries in the Mediterranean region from ancient times. By the
closing decades of the nineteenth century, the Christian community of Travancore came to reflect all the three broad
streams of this religion: the Roman Catholics, the Protestants, and the Orthodox. Pentecost movement had also its
adherence to Travancore. It had its beginning in Mulakuzha near Chenganoor as early as 1925.

New Trends in Religion

Demographic changes in the Christian community especially the Syrian Christians, who constitute nearly half of
the state's six million Christian population, are heading towards a zero or even negative population growth regime. Syrian
Christians were not a very migratory community and concentrated in a small number of taluks. But when they began their
demographic transition all the above-said characteristics changed a lot. Now the community has a low level of mortality
and fertility rates. They had a high migration rate and are now spread out not only all over India but also all over the globe.
Since Pathanamthitta district holds the largest number of Syrian Christian population the study and the results are

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Religion and Life, Some New Trends, a Study on the Pilgrim Headquarters of Kerala 3

applicable here. Syrian Christians are the major emigrant group in Pathanamthitta. The large-scale out-migration of people
in a search of job coupled with the high practice of family planning can be attributed to the reasons behind this fall in
population proportion.

The demographic transition has thrown up new concerns in the district. Christians were a prosperous community
commanding extraordinary political clout in Kerala. This is likely to be affected in the future if the decline in the numerical
strength is continuing. The most important structural changes that occur here is the rapid rise in the population of the
elderly and the decline in the number of children. Even though the State is also in tune with these changes it is more among
the Christians.

There also occurred movements originated within the framework of Missionary Christianity, but moved beyond
the limits of the missionary project and eventually offered a critique of it like Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS),
the assembly of those who are saved by God. This is a socio-religious organization founded by Poikayil Sree Kumara Guru
Devan aimed to articulate the interests of the Dalits. The assembly with no sacred books, ritualistic practices, and priestly
classes was the culmination of the efforts of its founder for a democratic church capable of embracing all those who were
joining to worship God. At present, Pratyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS) is a religious movement that signifies the
lower caste assertion and a consciousness on their part which prompts them to leave the established paths of the traditional
religions and to embark on attempts aimed at the creation and development of religious identities for themselves.

Dravidian Class United Front (DCUF) is another new religious formation which owed its inspiration mainly to
Pratyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS). The headquarters of DCUF is at Mukkada, only a few meters north of the
Pathanamthitta district, in Kottayam district. Dravidian Class United Front (DCUF) was founded by Sabharaj, who was
born on 2nd October 1926. The Dravidian Class United Front (DCUF) was named with a specific sense and care about
terminology. Instead of using the name of any existing class or caste to show its identity, it calls itself “Dravidian”.
This was to show that the members belonged to the race that really owned and authored the earliest of the Indian
civilizations - the Harappan. Incidentally, the mouth organ of the DCUF was named Saindhavamozhi which means “the
word of the Indus valley people”. This was part of the argument that they were not really slaves but the ancient original and
real inhabitants and owners of this land. Evidently, DCUF was predominantly a political formation which had its roots in
the social milieu of the period and was expressed in religious terms.

The new religious formations have certain characteristics: (i) they are founded and fostered by the lower castes
themselves; (ii) they distance themselves from the traditional religions in organization and faith; (iii) the founder is often
deified; (iv) they uphold the enlightenment values like equality, equal opportunity for all and respect for the constitution
etc.; (v) Pratyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS) can be seen imbibed many of the notions and ideological traits and even
terminology from Christianity even though it is a totally different and new religion; (vi) the new religious formations were
predominantly political in nature; (vii) they base themselves on the unjust social scenario.

This trend has bearings on globalization which foster localization and the deconstruction of meta-narratives.
The general, universal and common codes give way to the particular and individual expressions and constructions.
Religious identities now get closer to the socio-economic identity of the followers and because there is a multitude of the
latter, the former also get multiplied and diversified. Without the creation of a new religious identity, the upward
movement or the attempt to upward movement would not probably be complete or even effective.

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4 Deepa Roselin Joseph

This is also because almost every other aspect of life here is deeply related to religion. This could be a factor
working behind the origin and growth of the new sects.

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